Twilight Ride
by Read4urlife
Summary: Currently under minor revisions.
1. Chapter 1

MAX POV

It wasn't ME that wanted to buy a house.

It wasn't me at all. It was totally Fang. Why? He said, and I quote, "We need a home."

So, we bought a house. It's surprisingly cheap these days, what with the economy acting weird. We'd looked for almost three days for an accepting city, and when we finally found one-quiet, no erasers-it was in the rainiest town in the country. No, really. I googled it.

So yeah, the flock was settling down in the cold, wet, rain. Did I mention that I HATE the cold?

Why was I going along with us? Because Fang voiced his idea, and the younger kids let out excited peals.

The first night in our new house (residing in Forks, Washington. Hehheh. The name was the only thing I liked about the town) was less than peaceful. We'd gone on a HUGE shopping spree earlier that day, and, with the maximum ride credit card, had bought. . .

Was it something we needed, like clothes or food?

No, we bought a car, of course.

Nudge and Gazzy were begging for food, so I gave up and ordered pizza with my brand new. . .cell phone (another thing that I had no need of).

The flock hid behind couches when the doorbell rang. I-since I'm the leader, I have to open the door-walked over to the door, looked out the peephole. Pizza guy, complete with acne, standing there.

I opened the door. His looked up at me and his jaw dropped.

"What?" I said irritably. Number Seven on the Things I Hate list; people staring at me.

"Your pizza. . ." He stammered.

"Just give it to me," I said, snatching the pizza from him and throwing him a twenty, slamming the door. The flock crept out of their hiding place.

"Yes! Give me food!" Total said appreciately, sitting in his chair, obviously forgetting the fact that he was a dog. "After all, I deserve it more than you runaways."

Obviously forgetting the fact that he was a dog that lived by the grace of these runaways.

"Max?" Angel said, her eyes wide, her blond curls tumbling around her face. Ever since we'd been to Antartica, four years ago, she'd been determined to grow her hair out long, like some sort of famous singer.

"What?" I said, handing her a slice of pepperoni.

"I mean, I know that you hate this kind of stuff ever since Anne's place but please please please can we go to school? Please? I could play mind puppet with the principal so he wouldn't ask us about our parents and everything. . ."

"No," I said. We all were sitting down at the table, the flock watching our conversation with rapt attention.

"Why not?" Angel sniffed a little.

"Because. . ." I couldn't think of an acceptable excuse in time.

"Max!" Angel moaned, and then. . .she turned up the bambi eyes. I winced. "Uh, fine."

The younger kids errupted into cheers. Fang rolled his eyes at me, and whispered, "Sucker."

"Who let who have a freaking dog?" I responded, chewing on my pizza.

FANG POV

First class; English.

I was all alone in this class, and it was awkward, to say the least, standing in front of a bunch of strange kids who were gawking at me as if I were freaking-god. Maybe I should have worn less black. Nah.

"This is. . ." The teacher, a man who I hadn't bothered to learn the name of. . ."Nick. . .what was your last name?"

"Smith," I lied tersely, looking out into the students, searching for Erasers. Although fighting erasers would be better than freaking _English_ class. I mean, it wasn't my idea. Okay, it was sorta my idea.

Normal student, normal student, normal, normal, normal. . _woah._

I tensed. That kid in the back row, he had to be an eraser. Super model type, all the way. Blond hair, icy fair skin, golden eyes. . .the look he gave me was scary.

"Then you can sit next to Jasper," The teacher said, pointing to the student Eraser. Of course. As soon as this class was over, I was telling Max that there were Erasers in this town and we were leaving. I mean, I liked the idea of having a home, but not if we had to go to school.

I slid over to the empty desk next to him. My senses were on hyperaware. Would this Eraser attack me right in front of the class? Would I have to do an up-and-away? I really wished Max was there. Then _she_ could make all the decisions.

As soon as I sat next to this. . .Jasper. . .though, all the fear and panic faded away and I was la-di-dah, like Max on valium.

Some conscious part of my mind realized that I wasn't supposed to feel like this, and I tried to bring my adrenaline level back up, but it disappeared again. Of course this wasn't an Eraser. I would be freaking out, my instincts telling me to run. I was totally relaxed, now. Yay. . .

"What's your name?" I asked Jasper, although I already knew it.

Ripples, voices echoed throughout the room. _Oh my god, he talked to Cullen! C-u-l-l-e-n!!!! He's so cute! I want to ask him out! His name was Nick, right?_

"Jasper Cullen," He said in a low purr of a voice, his fingers drumming the desktop.

Then I realized I was talking to a complete stranger. That looked like an Eraser. The panic started up again, and then calmness filled me. I shook my ahead and focused on the lecture, watching the would-be Eraser out of the corner of my eye.

IGGY POV

Ah. First period was P.E. Of course. I _would_ have to start my first day of school a total freak. Even more than a total freak than I already was.

"This is Jeff Smith, and he'll be a new student here," The P.E. teacher announced. He handed me some clothes. "Jeff, this is the uniform."

"Um," I said, hating to have to say this, "Um. I'm blind."

I could feel the P.E. teachers astonished gaze on me. "You're. . _blind?_" He said. "But. . how. . .?"

I yawned. "Well, I looked at the sun for too long, the way they tell you not to. Yeah, and so, you know, I lost my eyesight." Lying was second nature to me.

The teacher didn't know what to say. "Well, I guess. . .I guess you don't have to do P.E. I mean, you couldn't possibly keep up with the other students." I wonder if he knew that I could have him pinned to the ground in one second. And have a bomb shoved up his butt in another. I'd managed to sneak several bombs into the school. . .my fingers twitched. Nah, Max would be mad.

"But I can't just leave you alone. Would anyone like to sit out today with Jeff, before we can get this situation. . .arranged?" The Teacher asked, desperate.

I heard several students raise their hands. "Um. . .how about. . ." Mr. P.E. Teacher said, frantic.

"I'll totally do it, Mr. Clapp," A girl's high piping voice said cheerfully. "My arm hurts anyway. Oh, ow." The words were a completely innocent lie and I had to choke back a laugh.

"All right, Alice." Mr. whats-his-face said. "Go sit on the bleachers."

I heard the girl's footsteps and followed them, concentrating on the sound, and then heard the girl sit. I sat next to her, a few feet away.

"Hi, I'm Alice, you're Jeff, right?" Alice asked, and I could hear her leaning forward.

"Yeah," I said reluctantly, trying to pinpoint the girl's precise position. There was something odd about the way she smelled. . I couldn't figure it out. 98% of me was thinking _wow, she smells good._ 2% of me thought _predator._ But she seemed nice enough.

"Where are you from?" The girl asked.

I thought back. The flock had just crashed Max's mom's place, in Arizona, but we'd been born in the school, in California. So, yeah. . .

"Arizona," I said.

"Wow! Bella's from there too! So awesome! So this place must be weird, huh?. ."

"Bella?"

"Oh, my sister. We were all adopted."

"Huh," I said. "Me too. My family, by missionaries," I told Alice the composed story, that Max had been using for years. It was a good one.

"Your family? So there's six of you? That is so cool!" Alice said enthusiastically, bouncing up and down in her spot. I swear, she reminded me just like Nudge. Nudge. . .I daydreamed for a minute about Nudge. She was registered as a Sophomore.

The bell rang. "Oops! That's the end of class! Gotta go! Jasper's waiting for me!" Alice said, and sped off.

MAX POV

Finally, lunch break, thank god.

I was so going to strangle Angel for coming up with this stupid idea. Only I would never strangle Angel, my baby. So I would strangle someone else.

Fang and I had just had Spanish together. The teacher, a Mrs. Goff, had quizzed us the entire period, and my oh-so-faithful voice had failed to chime in for the entire period with its oh-so-useful knowledge. Which, if it had been pertaining to translations, would have been pretty useful.

Iggy, Nudge, Fang and I sat together, scarfing down food. Fang was quiet, quieter than usual. I looked around the lunchroom, examining our surroundings.

Finally, I broke. "Nudge?" I asked tenatively, "How was class?"

Big mistake.

"Oh my god!' Nudge said. "Class was totally awesome, first I had Algebra, which sucked, but it was still awesome, because there were cute boys in my class and I met this girl with this kind weird name, and she's called Ren-es-mee but she goes by Nessie, which kind of reminds me of a loch ness monster, I wonder why that's her nickname, but she is super-pretty and she said she was adopted, and she has an older brother named Edward and she's really nice and her last name is Cullen. Isn't that cool? I think I'm going to change my name from Tiffany Crystal Monique Butterfly Rainbow Smith to Tiffany Crystal mmmph." The mmph came from Iggy putting his hand over her mouth. I shot him a thankful glance, which he missed. It's the thought that counts.

I had scarfed down my pizza. I stood up. "I'm going to get seconds, okay?" I said.

EDWARD POV

"Look! New kids!" Alice said, pointing. "I talked to one in P.E. He was blind."

"Yeah, they're the Smiths," Jasper said. "One sits next to me in English. He was all weird, twitchy and anxiety, but I calmed him down. But-get this-he smelled like birds."

"Yeah," Alice said, "Jeff too."

"Daddy," Renesmee said. She was chewing on her lettuce. She didn't like human food, but Carlisle had said that eating "plenty of both types of substenance" would keep her healthy. "I sat next to this girl named Tiffany, and she was one of the Smiths. She smelled like a bird."

I looked at her with faux sternness. "You have to call me Edward in public," I reminded her.

She pouted.

"So, can you get a read off them?" Bella asked, leaning closer to me. I wanted to inhale her scent, breath her in, but what we wanted would not be acceptable in public. I shrugged and focused.

"That girl. . .Max, her name was. . .she's looking for escape routes. Jeff is thinking something about bombs. Nick. . ." I grinned. "Nick is thinking about how beautiful Max is."

"Ah," Rosalie said tartly. "Budding romance. Just tell us if they're suspicious of us or not."

I shrugged. I hoped that everyone would find true love the way that my family had. "Tiffany. . .er, what was her name? It was long. Anyway, she's thinking about shopping."

"Maybe we'll be friends!" Alice suggested brightly.

"Like she needs another shopping partner," Bella muttered under her breath, knowing that Alice would hear her anyway with her vampiric hearing. I smiled. Bella was still being tugged along, with Alice, on shopping expeditions. Our daughter, at five years old, looked about fifteen, and loved shopping _almost_ as much as Alice.

I watched with disinterest as Max rose from her seat, her thoughts intent on food. I watched with disinterest as she walked over to the lunch ladies selling pizza.

And I watched as she crumpled to the floor, pain exploding through her mind.

FANG POV

"Max!" I shouted, jumping up and sprinting over to her.

She was curled up in a little ball, her hands over her face, moaning. I picked her up, cradling her. Was she having a brain attack again? She hadn't had one of those in four years.

Whispers rippled out from me. Nudge and Iggy were by my side, staring anxiously at Max. I heard voices murmuring, "Is she all right?"

"Hello," A voice said. I jerked my head up. A boy, a young man, stood a few inches shorter than me. He reminded me of that Jasper I met earlier. I narrowed my eyes. He had coppery hair and golden eyes and very fair skin. His voice was a purr. _Erasers?_

"My father's a doctor. Maybe I could help. My name is Edward Cullen." The boy said.

I narrowed my eyes, and backed away. Max writhed in my arms. "Nice try, eraser," I snapped. I trusted this boy as far as I could throw him. . .which was pretty far. Okay, less far than I could throw him.

He wrinkled his perfect nose. "What? Pencils?"

With Max incapacitated, I was in charge. We needed to find a safe place where we could wait for her brain attack to end. If it didn't end. . .well. . .we'd think about it later.

"Ig, Nudge, on three, we run out of the building and go over to the middle school, get Angel and Gazzy, get out of here," I said in a low voice, to low for pretty boy to hear. I backed away.

Pretty boy cocked his ear, as if he was listening to something.

"Fang. . ." Max moaned. I looked down at her, and gasped.

On her neck was a tattoo. Three numbers. The year was this year. And I was pretty sure the month was this month.

Max's expiration date had showed up.


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N Okay! That you everyone that reviewed! This is my first fanfic so I didn't really know what to expect. Also, if you want, you can tell me the name of your own fanfic if it's Maximum Ride or Twilight, and I will try to review it, although I don't want to read anything with excessive swearing. (but do not shower me in stories. Thank you). Okay, I think you're supposed to do this; I am not James Patterson. Neither am I Stephenie Meyer. I mean, if I was gazillionare writer, what would I be doing on fanfic? Just a thought for you. . .**

**On with the story! :-)**

Chapter Two

EDWARD POV

The color drained out Nick Smith's face. I sniffed the air. The scent of birds was strong; it was almost as if the Smiths _were_ birds.

I listened carefully to his thoughts. _Max's expiration date! No!"_

Behind him, the talkative girl, Tiffany-? let out a little shriek. "No, Max, no!" She cried, hugging herself.

"Nudge, what's wrong?" Jeff said to Tiffany?-Nudge?-and she whispered something to him. His already pale skin was even whiter, so white that he looked like a ghost, a vampire.

"Do you have a problem?" I asked smoothly.

Nick glared at me, backing away. "Get away from us, Eraser," He snarled. Why did he keep calling me a pencil? Was it something I was wearing? I looked down at my shirt. It was green. I sighed and eavesdropped in his thoughts. A picture of a huge man sprouting fur met me. How in the world was that an Eraser?

By then, the rest of my family was around us, staring at the Smith kids. "Calm them down," I whispered to Jasper. He nodded and focused. Immediately, the energy level relaxed.

"Would you like to go to the hospital?" I asked, looking around. The school nurse was heading this way. Hopefully, she would make sure that Max was all right, whatever was happening to her. . .

_No!_ Tiffany-? Jeff and Nick thought as one. Nick stepped back. "C'mon, guys, let's get out of here," He said, his voice tight. He turned and ran, the rest of his family following him.

"We should help them," Bella murmured to me, her eyes wide on the fleeing kids. "They're obviously not going to go to a hospital. And that girl, Max, she needs help."

I nodded, then turned around to the rest of our family. "I'll go to Carlisle, ask him what we should do," I said.

Rosalie, being Rosalie, hissed. "Why? Those bird-kids will be fine. She wasn't _dying_, or anything."

"Ah, c'mon, Rose, it'll be fun!" Emmett cajoled.

Alice's vision hit me a split second later. "Actually," Alice said. "About the dying thing. . .you might want to revise your earlier statement."

FANG POV

The five of us stopped in a small meadow, a few thousand feet away from the school, Max still cradled in my arms. She was coughing blood now. I put her on the ground, gently, kneeled besides her, then looked up frantically at Iggy.

"Ig?" I said, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice. "Ig? Can you help her at all?"

Iggy listened. "Her heart's going haywire. She's losing blood fast. No question about it. Max needs a doctor."

"Max!" Nudge cried out, tears pouring down her face. Iggy gave her a hug, whispering, "It'll be okay, okay," Gazzy and Angel were clinging to each other tightly. I had no one to hold onto. I looked down at Max. We couldn't take her to a hospital. We couldn't. We just couldn't. But Max needed help. Fast.

"Need help?" A low purr of a voice said. I looked up from my crouch.

There were eight of them. Six of them I recognized from school, and then there were two more adults. The Cullens. They were all so breathtakingly beautiful, it was almost shocking. The one who had spoken looked to be about twenty-three or four, with icy pale skin and blond hair.

"Get away from us, Erasers!" I snapped, pulling Max into my arms and jumping up. The rest of the flock tensed, waiting to fight.

I heard the bronze-haired male Eraser mutter, "I told you he kept calling me a pencil," To the other blond male, named Jasper.

"Don't be ridiculous. Jasper, will you help me out?" It was obvious that the oldest blond male was the leader. The other blond male nodded and closed his eyes tightly, concentrating.

Angel glared at him. "Stop that!" She said, but why was she panicking? Everything was fine, it was all going to be fine, they were going to help us out and Max was going to be okay.

"Do you want to come to our house?" The leader asked. The blond female hissed but he took no notice of her.

Max's lifeblood was soaking away in my arms. "Yes," I said with feeling.

"Here, I'll take Max," The leader said, stretching out his arms.

_Fang?_ Came Angel's frightened voice in my head. Why was she so scared? It was all going to be fine. _Don't trust them! They're not human, Fang._

Wait. Were they Erasers? I stepped back, not wanting Max to be ensnared in the arms of our foes.

_No. They're something else. . .I can't figure out what, not yet,_ Angel said.

"I'll carry her," I said to the Cullens.

"All right. Here, we have a car a little ways away, and then we can take Max to our house."

I nodded, feeling totally relaxed.

BELLA POV

Carlisle, Jasper and I rode in the car with the Smiths. Jasper's concentration was tight-I caught him looking back once or more at the injured girl, Max-but I caught him and stared at him sternly. If Max's blood had smelled normal, he wouldn't have been able to control himself. But the Smiths were oddly like the werewolves-they smelled human and animal, mixed in one. But still, Carlisle wouldn't have let Jasper get in the car if it wasn't for his ability to control emotions. Carlisle drove.

We arrived at our white mansion soon. Nick had held Max tightly for the entire ride, looking down at her. Now he jumped out of the car, looking around frantically. "How did they get here so fast?" He said, nodding at Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Edward, Esme and Renesmee, who had ran.

"They had another car," Carlisle said absently. "Please, Nick, bring Max inside."

Nick nodded tightly and carried Max inside the house, the rest our us following. Edward and that little girl-what was her name? Ariel?-were staring at each other, eyes narrowed. Carlisle laid Max on the couch, and checked her pulse.

"Wo," He muttered, then turned to Nick. "Her heart is going so fast that she should be dead. Care to explain why?"

Nick shrugged, glaring around at all of us. "I don't know. It's always been like that," I could feel Jasper pumping up the trust in the room, so Nick must have been really defensive.

"What's the date?" Nick asked me tightly.

"Huh? It's the third of October," I said, wondering why he would bring that up.

Nick walked over to Max's limped form and looked at the numbers on her neck. "Max has exactly two weeks to live," He said, and a tear dripped out of his eye.

NUDGE POV

Oh my god oh my god oh my god did Fang just _cry_? That's not possible. He doesn't need people. But then, he and Max have been in love forever.

But. . Max is going to die. No! There has to be something we can do! _Something._

"She's not going to die. Carlisle will take care of her," That really cute boy, I think his name was Edward, muttered under his breath. If I were a normal human, I wouldn't have been able to hear him.

How?-

"Stop it!" Angel exclaimed, pointing at Edward. "Stop looking at our minds!"

_Huh?_

"What are you talking about, Ariel?" Fang asked tightly, using Angel's fake name. He was staring down at Max's pale face.

"He reads minds!" She said, pointing, accusingly, at Edward.

Huh? I thought. Now the world has to mind-readers? Not good!

"So does she," He said, just as pouty as Angel.

"It appears we have a lot to learn about each other," Carlisle said absently, still bent over Max.

"And they're vampires," Angel said, scowling.


	3. You have got to be kidding me

**A/N: (squeals!) I got reviews! I got reviews! OMGOMGOMG. Sorry. You're probably thinking; hyperactive much? Well, I've never written a fanfic before, so this is very exciting for me :-) Okay, I should probably write the story, huh? :-& Oh, and I'm not Stephenie Meyer, neither am I James Patterson. I don't know how often you have to do that, though. . .**

MAX POV

When I woke up I had a headache. It wasn't a headache caused by a certain _voice_ (ahem) or from having to worry about taking care of the flock. It wasn't even the type of headache you get from listening to Nudge ramble for twelve solid hours. It was just. . .a headache.

Then I remembered what had happened.

"Ah!" I yelled, and shot out of bed. Huh? Bed? I landed on the floor. _Ouch_. Where was I? I was in a bedroom.

Obviously, Fang would never have brought me to a hospital, so I must been in a hotel or something. Or something. I rose unsteadily to my feet. I was wearing the weirdest clothing. Before my Brain Attack, I'd had on jeans and a-shirt. Now I was wearing a miniskirt and a flimsy top. What the heck?

I opened the door of the bedroom and peered out. I was in a hallway of some sorts. I cocked my head, listening to voices. 

"Looks like our patient is awake," A low purr of a voice chuckled. I shivered. They could only be talking about me. But how could they know I was awake? My hands curled into fists.

I walked carefully down the staircase and into a. . .kitchen? The flock was sitting around a table, eating mountains of food. Around the kitchen stood nine extremely beautiful people. I remembered most of them from school.

"Max! You're awake!" Nudge squealed, jumping up to me. I was suddenly encircled in a flock hug.

"Thanks, guys," I said, pushing them away. Then Fang hugged me close, whispering in my ear, "Don't _ever_ do that again. _Ever._"

"Um. . .okay. . ." I whispered back.

"Max, there's something you have to know about the Cullens," Angel said, looking at me, pretty serious for a ten-year old.

I patted her on the head. "Uh-huh? What is it, sweetie?"

"They're vampires." Angel said.

Wo. Wasn't expecting that. I looked around at the Cullens, shrugged. I was feeling very relaxed for some reason, like, "so, they're vampires. Who cares?"

"Stop that!" Alice insisted, staring at the younger blond boy. "Let her feel what she wants to feel!"

The boy shrugged. Instantly, the feeling of calmness left me, and I was all tense and adrenaline-y again. I glared at them. "Vampires? That's the weirdest thing I've heard all day."

"Max, it's okay," Nudge said. "You've been asleep for three days and they didn't suck your blood not once and Carlisle here he totally made you better but sorry we told them about us, I hope you don't mind, but anyway, they know that we're avian-human hybrids and stuff, and Fang was in control and everything even when your expiration date showed up on your neck. . "

I gawked at her. "_What?"_ My brain was scrambling. "Um. . expiration date."

Fang looked me in the eye. The other kids were sitting down and eating, but he stood up next to me. "Your expiration date."

I froze.

_My expiration date?_ We'd always lived in dread of it. . .if I was gone, who would take care of the flock? I was going to _die?_ "How much time do I have?" I asked, my voice surprisingly calm.

"You're not going to die, Max," That boy, Edward, said calmly. I glanced at him, frowning.

"Another mind-reader!" Angel chirped. I wanted to groan. A _mind-reading vampire?_ That was just perfect. I just gritted my teeth, sighed , and shook my head. "I'm going to die," I turned to Fang. "You'll be in charge, okay? How much time do I have?"

"You're not going to die, Max," Fang insisted.

I sighed. "Fang, you know what happened to Ari? That's what's going to happen to me. I'm just. . .sorry that. . ." My throat closed. I wanted to say, very badly that I was sorry that we could never be together. But I couldn't. I couldn't do that to him now. Not when I was going to die.

"You're not going to die because I'm going to get rid of the pre-programmed expiration date," An all-too-familiar voice said. I turned, a snarl on my face.

"Yeah? What are you doing here, Jeb?"


	4. Who would have guessed?

**A/N YAY! I got more reviews (hyperactive much?) So, I'm supposed to do a dis-claim-er. I am not JP or SM, moreover, I never have been, and I never will be. (Remember Max in the third book. . .hehe?) Oh, and Stop. But don't Stare Please (urg. . .long name) please tell me the name of your story because there's thousands of Twilight things. Remember, review! It gives me the warm fuzzies! But I think I should stop writing so much all at once (the quality of my writing will go down r-r-e-a-l-l-y fast) so I'm going to wait until I have five more reviews (by different people than I've been getting, although thank you). Urg. I've been blabbing so much! On with the story!**

MAX POV

"What in the world are you doing here, Jeb?" I snapped, propping my hands on my hips.

"Fang called me." He said.

I turned my glared to Fang, shocked. How could he do this to me? "Fang, why?" I said.

Fang's gaze met mine. "Max, you're going to die in eleven days unless Jeb deactivates your expiration date. It's the only way you'll survive."

"But. . " Urg. I just. . _didn't_ trust Jeb. At all. _Angel, you get anything from him? _I asked.

_No, _her reply came regretfully. _As always._

Jeb was watching me. "It's been so long, Max. Four years. You've really grown up!" I hadn't seen Jeb since we ditched the Lerner school.

I narrowed my eyes at him, ready to spit fire or something. I turned around to my flock. "How long has he been here?" I asked quietly.

"Two days!" Alice squealed. She handed me a plate of pancakes. My stomach rumbled. I was starving. I looked down at the pancakes, and shrugged, and started eating. My flock had been scarfing them down for three days, so I assumed they were all right. Even if I was going to die, I still needed food.

"Where's Total?" I asked Angel, desperately hoping that she'd left him behind.

Angel frowned as she read my mind. "Total's asleep. Upstairs." She knew that I didn't exactly approve of Total. I mean, the dog talked way more than Nudge and was full of himself.

"And why am I wearing these clothes?" I asked, looking down at the hideous things I was wearing. Ga. A skirt. I was wearing a _skirt. _Not only a skirt. A _miniskirt._

"Alice dressed you," A vampire said apologetically. I looked up at her. She had long dark hair that fell down to her waist, and was very pretty. "Hello," The vampire said, stretching out a hand. "I'm Bella."

"You already know me. I'm Max," I said, shaking hands with her. Her hand was icy cold, but I managed to resist flinching. I was feeling pretty calm, despite the fact that I was in a room full of vampires and my (urg) _father._ The flock was alive, we had food, and no one was pulling out a taser.

I turned back to Jeb. "So, Jeb, what's your grand plan for deactivating my expiration date?" I ate while I stood, my stomach grumbling.

Jeb hesitated. "Well, I don't have the technology on me. It's something that's part of your brain; when you turn a certain age, it'll go off and you'll die. It's sort of like an. . .aneurism."

"What the hell is an aneurism?" I snapped, forgetting to watch my language. Oops. I covered my mouth. After all, Angel and Gazzy were still little kids.

"Basically, an aneurism is a swelling of blood vessels in your brain. When it ruptures, you die. All experiments are built with an aneurism in your brain. When they reach a pre-programmed age, it will start to swell and eventually rupture. What I need to do is program the technology so that your blood vessels will start to swell at say, two hundred years old. You probably won't live that long, so you won't have to worry about that."

"Huh." I sort of got that. The vampires were nodding, understanding everything, which made me feel like an idiot. Well, they'd probably lived for ten million years. "So, that's all you need to do? Where's the technology for it?"

"In two places," Jeb said, still hesitant. "One place it's in. . .the School."

"No!" I snapped. "Never! I'm NOT going back to the School. I'd rather die!"

Jeb nodded, understanding. "Although if you don't get this taken care of, Max, you'll all die."

Huh? "What?"

"All of you have these pre-programmed expiration dates in you. I need to deal with all of you at once, and I needed to move your expiration dates."

I scowled. "Well, we're not going back to the School. Where's the other place that has the technology."

"No," Edward, the mind-reading vamp, said suddenly. "Not there, Batchelder. That place is unsafe. Are you sure the technology isn't somewhere else?"

"Only there and at the School," Jeb replied, seemingly unperturbed by having a conversation with a guy reading his mind. Well, I did it all the time. It wasn't so hard once you got used to it.

"What's so bad about _Volterra?_" Angel asked Edward, frowning. Her eyes widened as they had what appeared to be a conversation. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "That's not good. . .but there's no other place."

I grew impatient. "What are you talking about?" I asked Angel.

Angel looked up at me. "Volterra is a place where the. . .royal vampires live! Max, and there's a lot of them! And they drink human blood!"

I frowned. "Don't all vampires drink human blood?"

Carlisle shook his head from where he stood by the sink. "No. We drink the blood of animals."

I thought about that for a moment. Vampires that drank the blood of animals? Well, if I was going to believe in vampires, why couldn't I believe in anything.

I shook my head. "Wait. Is the place in Volterra a branch of Itex?"

"Yes," Jeb said. "But it was shut down years ago, although the technology should still be there."

I shook my head, thinking. On one hand-bloodthirsty royal vampires. On the other hand-the school. This was a difficult decision. I turned to Fang, who had been quiet the whole time.

"What do you guys think?" I said aloud.

"You should go to the School. I've heard a lot about it, but it certainly can't be as bad as the Volturi," The motherly-looking vampire advised us.

"Like I care," The barbie vampire muttered, crossing her arms. I instantly disliked her.

The other vampires muttered that, "Volterra isn't a safe place."

"No way are we going back to the school," Fang muttered, lips pressed tightly together.

"Oh my god Max this is such a tough decision! I think we should go to Volterra because I've never been to Italy and I've heard its cool do you think we could get a plane again that would be so awesome to fly over the Pacific mmph!" Thankfully, Iggy put his hand over her mouth.

"Ig? Gazzy? What about you?" I asked.

Iggy frowned, thinking. "Hm. Well, if we go to the School, we can blow it up when we're done."

"But," Gazzy said, also frowning, copying Iggy, "If we go to Volterra, we can blow _it_ up."

"Excellent idea, my apprentice," Iggy said, slapping Gazzy a high-five. I shot Fang a glance. "How many bombs did they make while I was asleep?" I muttered.

"I lost track," Fang muttered back to me. Great. Just great.

"Angel, what do you want to do?" I asked her gently.

She looked up at me with wide blue eyes. "I don't ever want to go back to the school, Max. Not ever. Never." I nodded tightly.

"I'll agree with Angel," Total said, yawning in a way that only a small, black scottie can yawn. He trotted down the stairs and hopped into her arms. "I can use this as a chance to bite some vampire ankles!" I rolled my eyes at his arrogance.

"I don't want to go back to the school," I said, looking at the Cullens. "I think we're going to Volterra. Can you please give me some new clothes?" I shot daggers at Alice. She giggled. "And thanks for all your help."

"Wait!" Edward exclaimed. "If you're going to Volterra, at least let some of us come with you. To protect you."

I glared at him. "What do you mean, protect us? We're perfectly capable of protecting ourselves." I propped my hands on my hips and strengthened my glare.

"Not against vampires."

I scowled. "Oh, you think you're so good, huh?"

"Max," Angel said. I looked down at her. "He's right. We're strong and can fly and stuff, but the vampires in Volterra are stronger."

I surpressed a groan. "Fine. Some of you can come. Only some."

"How about we all go?" Carlisle suggested. My eyes widened. Had he just completely ignored me? Gr. . .

"Good idea! Sounds like fun! Body guards to the bird kids!" The largest, bearlike vampire said, punching the air with his fists.

"No, absolutely not! I forbid you to come with us!" I snapped, knowing that it would do no good.

Alice's eyes lost their focus for a moment. She blinked and grinned. "Yay! We're all coming with you!"

"What makes you say that?" I snarled.

"I had a vision!" She squealed. Huh? Vision? Well, I'd heard of weirder things. I shook my head and turned to Carlisle. "Um. . .doc, then, can you get us some tickets?"

He smiled. "Absolutely. We can be heading out today."

And that's how I left the continental U.S. for the second time in my life.

**Phew! I hope this isn't totally cliched yet! (I live in fear of cliches.) Please read and review. Please. Please. Man, I've written so much today. **


	5. Droolworthy cars

**A/N OMG I got more reviews (squeals like Nudge.) Okay, I'm going to be mostly from Max's persona from now on. The plot will start to unfold itself. Be prepared. . .Thank you, all of my reviewers. If anyone's read a cool Twilight/Maximum Ride crossover lately, please tell me :-) Tell me what I should do to make the writing better.**

MAX POV

Here's a list of things that I hate about flying (in planes).

Too many people.

The terrible food

Nudge talking way too much and making metal things fly toward her-like the zipper on my backpack.

My usually claustrophobia.

Too many people. Did I say that already? Well, there really were too many people. What if one of them was sick? And started coughing? Don't you think that's poor planning on the travel agent's part?

"Max, you're muttering to yourself again!" Alice said cheerfully. She looked out the window, staring at the clouds. "I love flying," She sighed, then smiled to me. "You must do it all the time!"

Fang, Alice and I were sitting in the same row. All seventeen of us had gotten on this plane. Bella, Edward, Rosalie, Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Alice, and Emmett had boarded the plane calmly. Renesmee had been enthusiastic-this was her first time flying. Turns out she's younger than she looks, and a half-vampire. To make things even weirder, a young man named Jake showed up just as we were going, and demanded to come with us. And get this-_he's a werewolf._ The flock had already met him, while I was "asleep."

Unfortunately, Jeb had to come with us, since he was the only one who knew how to mess with the Expiration Dates. So yeah, I was on a plane with vampires and my dad. And a werewolf.

"I fly all the time. Yes. With wings." I said to Alice. "Not on a plane." Why did I have to be on a plane? Why?

"You're muttering to yourself again!" Alice giggled. Her eyes lost her focus for a moment, then she smiled slyly. "I'm going to go to the bathroom," She sang out, jumping up.

"Vampires have to go to the bathroom?" I muttered to Fang. He cracked a smile. He'd been quiet for a while. I could tell he was mulling something over.

"Fang, listen, in case I die. . " I began.

"Max, you're not going to die," He said suddenly, looking at me intensely.

I sighed and leaned back against my seat. "There is a good possibility. Now, if I die, you have to look after the fl-"

"Max," Fang growled, glaring at me. "You are _not_ going to die. Jeb's gonna make you better, okay? Those. . .numbers on your neck will go away."

"Yeah, but we have to go to a city full of vampires that are probably dying to sink their fangs in us and so-" I began again.

"Max. Shut. Up."

I glared at him, frustrated. "Why can't you just let me say this?"

Fang sighed. "Because if you start talking about how you're going to die, I might start to believe it myself, and then I wouldn't be able to survive. So shut up, okay?"

I blinked. That was the longest statement I'd ever heard him say.

"Look, Fang, just in case. . ."

He pressed a finger to my lips. Suddenly, his face was very, very, close and coming closer. . .

"I'm back!" Alice exclaimed. She looked at us, then looked down at her watch, scowling. "Hey! That was only supposed to take three minutes! Geez! You should have kissed her by now!" She glared at Fang.

I jumped out of my seat so fast that I was almost a blur and ran into the bathroom. I locked the door, leaned against it, and cried. Ah, the joys of being a teenage mutant bird kid on the run about to die in eleven days.

FANG POV

Max stayed in the bathroom for the entire flight. I think she even slept in their. When we'd finally landed in Florence, Italy, she walked back to her seat as if nothing had happened.

While we were gathering our luggage, Alice and Edward and Rosalie disappeared. I looked at the werewolf, Jacob.

"Where are they?" I asked him.

He rolled his eyes. "Probably stealing a couple cars." He was holding a sleeping Renesmee in his arms. The flock looked tired. The vampires looked tired, although they didn't sleep.

"All right, let's make this fast," Max said. "We sneak into Volterra, Jeb deals with the Expiration dates, we sneak out again without the Volturi finding out, and we all go our separate ways."

Esme looked near tears. If she could cry. Could vampires cry? "I do wish you would stay for a while, Max, flock," She said.

"Decisions later," Max said decisively. **(A/ N: He he. I crack myself up)**

"Looks like Edward and Alice are here with the cars," Carlisle said. I looked up. Now, I'm not much of a car fanatic-that's more of Nudge's department-but I was seriously impressed. Outside of the airport were three black-you're never going to guess-two black Lamborghinis. I almost felt myself drooling.

"Good god," Carlisle muttered. "Where did they get those?"

"We had to run a couple miles, but it was worth it!" Alice yelled. Our large group walked over to the cars. Actually, Nudge let out a scream and hugged a car. Or tried to. She plastered herself to the glass.

"The owners are going to be disappointed. We should probably return them when we're done," Edward said, always the gentleman.

"What happened to being inconspicuous?" Bella murmured.

"That is an amazing car!" Total yelped, jumping over to one, Angel running after him. I rolled my eyes. He was probably going to pee in it, or something.

Max rubbed her head. "Let's just . . .get in and get this over with." She told the flock.

So we were off to Volturra.

**Phew! I don't think I'm going to write anymore for a while. (Yawns) I spent virtually this entire Sunday on my laptop, and now I've got a headache. So no more five chapters a day. Sorry. :-) **


	6. NOOO

**OMG I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! My computer broke down, and it took me forever to fix it! So, to make up, I made this a really long one! Enjoy :-) **

"But Maaaaaaaxxxxxx," Nudge wailed, "You burned the miniskirt that Alice gave you, and all you're wearing is jeeeeaaaannnnns."

I gritted my teeth, "Nudge, we are on a top-secret mission to find the old lab, deactivate the stupid expiration dates in all of us, and the sneak out. Oh, yeah. We have to do it all without the vampires noticing! Speaking of which, we're in a group with eight vampires, a dhampir," **A/n: Dhampir means "half-vampire"**, "And, oh yeah, a werewolf. And my jerky father. WE CAN NOT GO TO THE MALL."

Then, of course, Alice had to join her.

"Max," She wheedled, "I know that you don't like shopping, but it could be fun, I promise," I swear, her bambi eyes were almost as good as Nudge's.

The seventeen of us were all hanging out in the courtyard, in front of a clock that apparently had a lot of past history between the so-called Edward and Bella. The younger kids had already squeezed ice-cream out of me (I'll admit, it wasn't that hard. The Cullens have lots of money, and I have no scruples about free loading). Now Nudge wanted to go to the freaking MALL.

I shot a desperate glance at Fang, which, I'll admit, was the first time I'd acknowledged his presence since the almost-kiss on the plane. Ah! Not even thinking about that! Not even thinking about that!

Fang smirked. Thanks for all your help.

"Carlisle," I said, "You agree with me, right? We need to get in and out of Volterra as quickly as possible."

Carlisle pursed his lips, thinking, looking annoyingly like, well, a vampire. Edward grinned at my thoughts. I glared over to where he and Bella were sitting next to each other, and mentally thought_, Stay outta my mind!_

"Well," Carlisle said, "I don't see what the problem is. Surely the Volturi won't notice us."

"In my world, surely always happens," I muttered. Aloud, I said, "Look, Nudge, I'm sorry, but I can't stand malls." Nudge and Alice both pouted and gave me puppy eyes simultaneously.

"Shopping," The werewolf said. He wore only a pair of sweat pants and must have been freezing, "That sounds good. This is the last scrap of clothing I own."

What would he wear when he was out? Edward chuckled. I gave him a Max-glare, the kind that I like to think makes people quiver in their boots.

"I wouldn't mind shopping," Fang said. Hey! He was supposed to be on my side! What kind of a right-hand man doesn't stick with his leader?

"Max?" Angel said.

I refused to look at her.

"Max?" She tugged on my sleeve. I automatically looked down, and the full force of her puppy eyes. I winced, and tried to look away, but I could not escape her attack.

"Um, Carlisle?"

"Yes, Max?" His voice was amused. Darn him.

"Do you think it would be okay if we," I took a deep breath, "Okay if we went to the mall?" Nudge, Alice and Angel squealed with delight.

"Why, certainly," Carlisle said, "Jeb, Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Jacob and I will stay and work out a battle plan. The rest of you will go have fun."

"What? Me, too?" Bella screeched.

"Yes, you!" Alice said, grabbing her arm and tugging her away-in the direction of the nearest mall, I assumed.

"Wait," Fang said, "Does that mean that I have to go?"

"Yes," I replied automatically, "If I have to suffer, you have to suffer. You should have stood by me when you had the chance."

Fang muttered swear words under his breath. Nudge tugged me after Alice.

"Bring me back some sweats!" The werewolf called.

"And a shirt," I grumbled under my breath.

"Mall," Iggy said, plotting, "Which means girls shopping. Which means girls trying stuff on. Which means changing room doors that I can blow up, and the Fang can describe ow!" I hit him on the head.

"Sexist pig!"

"Stop beating up on the blind guy," Iggy muttered, rubbing where I'd hit him, although he must have been faking it, because there was no way that measly blow would have hurt him.

"I think shopping is fun," Renesmee, the quiet half-vampire, said. Her voice was a sweet purr.

"There is no way you are related to me," Bella grumbled under her breath.

We arrived at the mall in a timely fashion. Immediately, Nudge and Angel and Renesmee kidnapped Bella, and Fang, Gazzy, and Iggy went off in search in boy-type clothing, (Also, because they wouldn't be caught dead in Macey's.) Alice smiled and pulled me into. . .

"Gah! Victoria's secret!" I yelled, trying to escape. Stupid strong vampire dragged me back into the store.

"Look," She said seriously, her golden eyes meeting mine, although she was about six inches shorter than me, "I know you want to look pretty for Fang, but first you need to get the right clothes."

"Who says I want to look pretty for Fang?" I said, the roof of my mouth suddenly very dry.

"It's written all over your face. You're totally in love with him," Alice giggled at my shocked expression.

"I'm. I'm not in love with him," I argued, my stutter making the words sound flat.

"Whatever! Just try the clothes on anyway," Alice said, flouncing into the store. I followed her, muttering about how it would never hide my wings, although calling the clothes "clothes" would be an exaggeration.

Four hours and two dozen stores later, we'd actually found some clothes I could wear, while hiding my wings (although most of the stuff made my face turn beet-red). Our large group met back at the entrance of the mall. Bella was wearing a full-length cocktail dress, and I swear, if she had any blood, she would have been blushing furiously. Nudge looked like a skater girl, and Angel was decked out in a tutu that I would never have allowed. Gazzy and Iggy wore matching shirts that said ARSONIST CROSSING and Fang had changed out of his black-t-shirt-and-jeans ensemble to a different black-t-shirt-and-jeans ensemble.

"Hey, Max, you're not wearing any of your new clothes!" Bella exclaimed, obviously feeling that if she had to die, I had to die, too.

I, of course, blushed red at the thought of myself in those clothes.

"Wow!" Gazzy exclaimed.

"OMG, Max!" Nudge said.

"I never thought I'd see that," Fang said.

"What happened?" Iggy demanded.

"Max _blushed._"

Naturally, this made them all crack up. When they were done laughing, Alice was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"We'll have to do this again when we're back in Forks!" She exclaimed.

I frowned, "What do you mean, back in forks?"

"When we're at school and all of this is over, silly!" Alice scoffed. She reached down and patted Renesmee on the head (although Renesmee wasn't that much shorter than her.)

I frowned, "I think you're misunderstanding, Alice. We're not staying in Forks permanently. We're just passing through. We can't stay in one place for too long, otherwise the School will find us."

"What?" Bella exclaimed, "You're leaving!"

"Well, not this instant," I said, feeling uncomfortable.

"But I'll miss having you around! You're like. . .another sister to me!" Alice exclaimed.

"Well, the school never gave us a choice," I said.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. I tensed. Whenever I felt nervous, something bad was going to happen. Everyone in our large group froze; ah, so nice to be among people with the same good senses as you.

"Just passing through?" A pretty little girl's voice said. We all turned. The four people all wore robes in varying shades of gray. There were two children, one boy and one girl, who could have been twins of each other. Next to them was a tall man with olive skin and short-cut hair, and another man with dark hair and crimson eyes.

"Alec and Jane," Alice said, nodding her head at the two children, "Felix and Demetri. So nice to see you," Her voice was cold and utterly unlike the happy tone she'd used just a few minutes ago.

"Nice to see you too, Alice," Felix said, grinning.

"Aro wants to know what you are doing in Voltura," The child called "Jane" said, "He also wants to see the strange children that smell like birds."

Alice frowned, "You've been keeping close tabs on us since we entered the city, haven't we?"

"Of course," The boy named Alec said. He glanced up at the sky, "It is almost night, and cloudy. Come and see Aro, and the rest of the Volturi."

"No thanks," Alice said.

The little boy frowned, "Let me revise that. It's not an option."

"Hey, wait, wait!" I interrupted, "Are you guys planning to 'go at it'? Fight?"

The boy, Alec, sneered at me, "It is none of your concern, human."

I bit down the _Who are you calling human?_ remark I'd been about to make, and put two and two together, "You're part of the volturi."

"Genius, Max," Fang said, rolling his eyes.

"You shall come with us," Jane said, an order. Like hell I was going to be ordered around. I narrowed my eyes.

"Max," Fang said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "I don't think we can fight them."

I wanted to groan, but he was right. Unfortunately, that meant we had only two options; fly away now and escape, but leaving our new friends behind, or join them and be kidnapped down to be snack food for a bunch of hungry vampires.

Fly or stay? Fly or stay?

**Now, if you really like this story, there's one thing you need to do. Yes, REVIEW. The more reviews I get, the faster I will right! PLEASE!!!!!**


	7. oh no he didn't

"Run, Max!" Alice yelled, snarling at the Volturi.

Well, that solidified my decision, "What? What the hell? No way! We can totally take them!" I mean, there were four of them and way more of us.

"I'll try to use my power if it comes down to a fight. . ." Bella began. Before she could finish her sentence, Felix leaped at her. My super-fast-awesome-raptor-vision-that-has-so-far-bested-anything-I've-ever-come-across could barely track his motions. He pinned her to the ground in a flash. She struggled, smashing the cement.

"Everyone's gone home," He said, "Which means we can have a jolly little fight right here. And if I take care of you, Alec. . ."

Everything went quiet. I glanced around anxiously. Bella still struggled under Felix's superior strength, but Alice and Nessie had blank expressions on their faces.

I glanced to the Volturi, who looked shocked beyond comparison, "It's not working?" Jane hissed to Alec.

"I can't reach into their minds! Something's blocking them!" Alec hissed back, obviously thinking us mere humans and not able to hear them.

"Um. . .what is he doing?" I said out loud.

"He can desensitize you! Run, flock, run!" Bella cried. I didn't have time to wonder why she was immune to it. _Angel, can you get into any of their heads? _ I thought.

_No. But I can block you from whatever Alec's doing. But my power doesn't extend to Alice and Nessie. Sorry._

I hissed in a breath, and yelled, "Attack!"

The Volturi, thinking us mere humans, simply grinned at my yell, at least. . .until I plunged my fist into Demetri's face.

_Ow ow ow ow ow bleeping insert-swear-word-of-your choice!_ I broke few bones in my hand, but Demetri staggered back. He righted himself and launched at me. **A/N: Yes! Maximum ride has awesome fight scenes! Yes! Yes! **

Damn, those vamps could move fast! I dodged under his attack, but he landed next to me and kicked my ribs. _Oh bleeping mother-_ I sucked in a breath and did something I'd hoped I'd never had to do. . . "Fang!"

Fang, who had been currently helping Nudge and Gazzy corner Jane glanced up in my direction and jumped through the air toward me, way higher than normal humans, but not actually pulling out his wings. Which was good, because it seemed like the wings were our only advantage, and we didn't exactly want to give it way.

"Come on, you way out number them!" Total cried, from his spot on the other side of the courtyard (away from all the fighting, of course).

"Shut up!" I yelled back, kicking Demetri in the face. Dammit, (hopefully, Angel wasn't listening into my mind at this point) that was my toes broken as well. I glanced around quickly at exactly the same moment Fang landed on the ground a few feet away. Angel was glaring daggers at Alec, obviously having a battle of the minds, Nudge and Gazzy had cornered Alec and were duking it out, Iggy was helping Bella battle Felix, everything was going well.

"OW!" I shrieked out as Demetri pulled my legs out from under me. I fell to the ground and he landed on top of me.

Suddenly, his weight was lifted off my chest. I scrambled up to see Fang punching him repeatedly, although I could hear bones snapping in his hands with every punch, "Don't-mess-with-my-Max," He growled.

"WHAT?" I yelled, outraged, "I'm not yours anything!" Anger flowed through me, hotter than I'd felt in a good long time. I grabbed Fang by the collar and heaved him up, "What the hell are you talking about?"

A sliver of amusement showed on his face, "Max, we're going after the vamp. Not each other."

Oh, right. I snapped a kick at Demetri-_ow, stupid made-of-rock vampires-_and Fang was just about to lunge at him when

_BOOM!_

I landed about twenty feet away. Coughing from the explosion, I glanced up to see Iggy and Gazzy high-fiving triumphantly. Jane and Felix had both been caught. While not burning, they were unconscious. **A/N: By the way? Vampires becoming unconscious? Yeah, I have no idea. If you have an argument, take it up with Stephenie Meyer :-)**

Alice and Nessie both blinked rapidly, glancing around, "What-" Alice began.

I heard Fang stand up next to me. He looked like he'd been dipped in smoke, "You okay?" He asked, offering me a hand.

I didn't take it. Instead, I stood up, glaring, "What did you call me? What did you call me? _I'm not yours. I don't BELONG to you!_"

Fang grinned, "Sure you do. You're my Max."

I'd been about to charge into a long tirade of how incredibly sexist-pig that was when the meaning of those words finally hit me. I blinked rapidly, and stared open mouthed at him.

"You're cute when you're like that," He added, grinning. Fang grinned. Fang grinned. Yes. Fang. Grinned. That's like. . .that's like. . .me blushing. Which I'd already done.

"Um. . ." I said.

_"_How very interesting," A cool, remote voice said.

I looked up to see a group of men and woman, all wearing cloaks in various shades of gray-just like the vampires we had just beaten the crud out of. The one who had spoken was a man with skin that looked like the shale, and black hair. And red eyes. Very creepy red eyes.

There were about ten or so others with this man. Two others wore black cloaks the way he did, both men with shale skin. One woman fluttered around him, clutching at his cloak slightly, almost as if she were protecting him.

I decided to forget Fang and walked over to Alice, "Who are they?" I murmured.

Felix, Jane, Alec, and a rather beat-up Demetri walked over to the gathering.

"They're the Volturi," Alice said, her eyes full of undisguised fear.

Crap.

Angel's voice broke into my head, _MAX? Max? The one who spoke. . .his thoughts. . .I don't like them, Max. I don't like them at all. Oh. . .! _Her voice trailed off and came back with full force, _His name is Aro._

"Aro," I said, nodding my head is his direction, "How unpleasant to meet you. We were kinda hoping to avoid you all." A faux smile broke out on my face.

"And you are?" Aro said said cheerfully.

"I heard some call her Max," Demetri hissed, glaring at me. His face was all mashed up.

"Did they do that to you?" Aro asked.

"Yes. . .but they smell human. . ."

_Max?_ Angel said telepathically, _Max, Alice and Bella say not to let them know how strong we are. Or about our wings. Or anything. Because Aro. . ._ I could almost imagine her shaking her head, _Just don't._

_Tell Total to be a normal dog,_ I hissed back at her.

"Hey!" I interjected. I mean, I like to intimidate my enemies, but I don't want Aro-whatever, "I totally broke my hand doing it," I held up my broken hand.

"How very interesting. What _are _you, exactly?"

"Me." This seemed about as safe an answer as I could get.

"I see," Aro said, "What are your names?"

"I'm Max," I said.

"Nick," Said Fang.

"Ariel," Angel interjected, smiling demurely.

"Captain Terror," Gazzy said, looking pleased. I mentally groaned. Even _Zephyr _had been an improvement over _Captain Terror._

"Um," Iggy said, thinking, "My name's Ernest. Ernest Rutherford," I mentally groaned again as Iggy took on the name of his hero; the guy who invented the nuclear bomb. **A/N: I researched that just for you! So be happy!**

"And I'm Tiffany-Crystal-Butterfly-Rainbow-Sunshine-Artichoke-Loch-ness-monster-Appalacian mountain!" Nudge squealed happily, "But you can call me TCBRSALNMAM for short. Or Tiffany."

"Um-hum," Aro said, "How very interesting.

He floated over to me. I nearly coiled away as my acute senses picked up his scent; he smelled like dried blood. When he was about a foot away, he said, "May I?" He held out his hand.

"Sure," I said, figuring he wanted to give me a handshake or something, also figuring that this would be an excellent time to flip him.

_No Max! _Angel screamed mentally. But it was too late. My hand had already touched his. It-felt-so-freaking-weird. A second later, he released my hand, "Something's blocking her," He announced, "But not like it was with Bella over there," He smiled at Bella, who glared at him hostily, wrapping her arms protectively around Renesmee, "Like a _person_ is blocking her." Huh? What was he talking about?

He swept a smile over us, "Let's all go underground, shall we?"

Once again, I was left with a choice. We could take off and leave our new friends alone, or we could stay with them and stick it out to the very end.

Hey, if we got in another life-or-death fight, Alice might actually lose the shopping back (from Victoria's secret! GAH!) That she had clutched to desperately this whole time.

THIRD PERSON

"They're taking a rather long time," Carlisle mused. They had finished mapping out how they were going to sneak over to the abandoned lab, and were now waiting.

"You know how Alice can get," Edward said. But, still. His hand hovered over his cell phone. It was a little bit past dark; the rest of their group should be finished shopping by then. He decided not to interrupt Alice and dropped his arm, getting into a long conversation with Emmett on their next fight. A lo-on-on-ong conversation.

MAX POV

Number sixteen on things I hate list:

BEING UNDERGROUND.

I was practically flying out of there (flying out of their; ha-ha-ha, because I'm a bird? Get it? You know what? Never mind.) The two dozen or so of us were standing in a long cavern while the three volturi leaders looked us over.

"I say we exterminate them," A vamp which Alice had told me was called Cauis said in a bored voice.

Okay, he reminded me exactly of the Ter Borcht dude that I had eventually ended up driving into a mental facility (okay, not yet, but I'm getting their. If we ever get captured again, Gazzy's going to use his interesting ability to emit gasses. . .)

"_Exterminate us?_" I shouted, "_Exterminate us?_ Bite me! We are far cooler than you could ever be! And, at least we're not mass murderers!" Now he reminded me of the uber-director, who I _had_ smashed to pieces (or watched while a tornado smashed him to pieces).

"But, Cauis, think of how strong they would be if they were vampires," Aro suggested.

I froze. Vampires? _Vampires?!?!?!?!?_

Like hell they were changing us into vampires.

"No-freaking-way!" I shouted.

"But they've broken the law," Cauis hissed, pointing to Alice and Bella, "Those six humans must die."

"What law?" I snapped.

"Are you the leader, or are you just someone who yells a lot?" Cauis asked me in a tired-sounding voice.

Oh-no-he-didn't. I instantly thought of four witty retorts (and two dozen not-so witty retorts). But I instead said, "Yes, I'm our leader."

Cauis frowned and looked at Fang, "Why do you let the girl lead you, _Nick?_" He demanded, making it clear that he did not believe Fang at all.

"She's the strong one," Fang said simply, while I quietly seethed. Not at being called strong (because I AM strong) but at Cauis for being all sexist pig and all.

"Well," Aro said conversationally, "They did hurt Demetri quite a bit. We can't forgive that, but it does mean that they are very, very strong. Which means that they are worth keeping around."

Like a toy or something. Or a pet. A pet bird.

"What say you?" Aro said to Cauis and the other man in the black robe.

"Kill them," Cauis hissed, no surprises there.

"I think we should keep them," Aro said. He turned to the other man, "And you, Marcus?"

Marcus shrugged. So far, he had shown no emotion at all, "I think what they did was a trick. They are not worth keeping."

Aro shrugged, "Very well," He said, "Kill the-" He frowned.

I turned to Angel. She had a very focused look on her face. Aro turned to her, "Well, well, little one," He said, "Why would I not want to kill you?"

"Because we're not easy prey to kill." Angel said simply.

"I see. You have mind-control powers, Ariel?"

She pouted, "It doesn't work on vampires."

"Ah," He said, "Well, unless you can convince me otherwise," He nodded his head to the guard, who began to advance slowly.

"No!" Alice, Bella and Renesmee shrieked just as I yelled, "Up and away!"

So much for keeping our wings secret.

**I just had to leave it there. Hah hah hah!**

**I have a question: when this story is done, what kind of crossover should I do?**

**Maximum ride/twilight**

**Maximum ride/percy jackson and the olympains**

**Maximum ride/ artemis fowl?**

**Maximum ride/ The Hunger Games?**

**If you review, you can tell me. That's a hint. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!! REVIEW!!!!!! (sobs quietly) PLEASE!!!!! **


	8. I did All I could

**THIRD PERSON POV**

"So, the old lab is here?" Carlisle said, pointing to the small _x_ on the map. He, Jeb and Esme were bent over the old map, trying to decide the best course of action. Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper were in a heated debate about cars. Edward was worrying and fussing off in his own corner, and Jacob Black slept like a. . .wolf. Night had fallen long ago, and still the mall-goers had not returned.

"Yes, and I assume the volturi headquarters are here?" Jeb asked, pointing to another location.

Carlisle nodded, 'My, they've been gone for a while," It was obvious who he was referring to, "Well, Alice can be a little overenthusiastic about buying clothes."

Jeb nodded, "Yes, so, the best course of action would be to go this way," He pointed a trail, "Visit the old lab-I assume it will take about four hours to deactivate the aneurisms. Then the six of them will probably need at least three or four days to recover from the surgery, so we should drive them out of town to be on the safe side. Flying on a plane will make them violently sick for at least a week."

Carlisle nodded again, "Preferably out of the country-it never hurts to be too cautious. I think that-"

"Vampires! Werewolves! Evil Jeb person!" The small black Scottie dog cried as it raced across the clearing. Everyone turned their gaze on Total, except sleeping Jacob.

"Yes, total?" Jeb said, seemingly unperturbed about having a conversation with a dog, "Where are the others? What's wrong?"

"It's terrible," Total panted, flopping down in front of Jeb, Carlisle and Esme, "Max, the flock, Alice, Renesmee-they were all kidnapped by the volturi! I gave it my all, but I couldn't save them. And they're helpless without me," He closed his eyes, obviously exhausted, "You've got to help them."

"All of them?" Esme cried.

"Bella and Renesmee?" Edward hissed.

At the name "Renesmee" Jacob woke up with a start, "What? Renesmee is she okay?"

Edward quickly explained the situation to him. His eyes narrowed and he started shaking violently, keeping his human shape with difficulty, "We've got to save them!"

**A/N: Ah! I'm so sorry! I had a whole, two thousand word chapter written out and ready to be put up. . .and my computer quit on me. I lost everything. So I had to re-write what I remembered. I'll try to update as quickly as possible.**

**Oh, and BTW, I've decided to another twilight-maximum ride crossover while I'm working on this one :-) Never fear, Percy Jackson and the Olympian Fans, I will do one of those as soon as I'm done with TWILIGHT RIDE. **


	9. You love me THIS much

Up, up, up in the air! It had been so dang long since I'd stretched my wings, they'd practically fallen asleep. I jumped high into the air with my super-bird kid strength, trying to ignore the pain shooting through my broken hands as I hung off the ground for a thousandth of a second, and then I snapped my wings out. My flock followed me. My heart soared in my chest.

You should've seen the expressions on the volturi's face. I almost fell out of the sky laughing, my shakes of mirth making my wingstrokes unsteady. Cauis stared at us with his jaw hanging open, Marcus' eyes actually widened in surprise (for him, this seemed to be a lot) and Aro had an expression of eagerness (that I really didn't want to interpret) on his face. The other vampires ranged from fainting in shock and screaming and running the other direction.

Fortunately, the ceiling was pretty high. We swooped upwards, wind shrieking past us, and hovered two hundred feet above the volturi.

"Dive for the door! Iggy, Gazzy- I give you permission to use all the bombs you made!" I yelled. The evil look on Iggy's face made me want to run the other direction-or fly.

"Fang, lead the way!" I added. If there's one person I can trust to take care of the flock (besides me) it's Fang. In fact, I think I can trust him forever-no! Bad Max! Stop thinking!

Fang dived downwards, folding his wings pack so that he was a dark blur rocketing out of the sky. He barrel-rolled in the direction of the doorway. Volturi guards scattered.

"Cullens! Come one!" I yelled. Bella, Alice, and Renesmee scattered in our direction, "Gazzy, Iggy, you're next! Ig, eleven o clock!" I gave him the direction of the door.

Bella and Alice dodged around the vampires. Renesmee smiled angelically and touched the arm of one of the volturi guards who blocked her path. Whatever she did, it must have hurt, because he dropped to the ground **A/N: Renesmee is using her power to send him painful memories.**

Iggy and the Gasmen cackled simultaneously and dropped bombs at random on the volturi that leaped for them. The bombs exploded on impact, and the vibrations through the air made me trip and lose ten feet. They made it safely out the door.

"Nudge!" I yelled. Nudge nodded, that determined look on her face, and dove down. A volturi guard lunged for her, but she dodged out of his way, touched ground for a moment, and took off through the air. Another vampire snarled and lunged for her, but she raised her hand in the air and a chunk of rock about the size of a large cello (**It's what was sitting in front of me**) flew into him. Nudge let out a shriek of joy and flew out the door.

I grabbed Angel's hand and together we flew out the door, through the long dark passageway, and into the moonlight. The rest of the flock and the Cullens waited for us.

"Cullens! You guys continue on by land! We'll go by air!" I shouted. Bella nodded and the Cullens took off.

Volturi soldiers began pouring out of the hole in the ground, about a third of a mile under us. I could make out their indistinct forms with my freaky bird kid raptor vision.

Of course I, being the great and noble leader I am, acted chivalrously and mature. Of course I resisted the urge to make fun of them.

Nah.

I pointed and laughed.

Okay, I was going to have to work on my three-year old tendencies. I get it.

"Let's go, flock!" I yelled. They nodded in agreement. Okay, I was probably going to die in under two weeks, I had crappy romance issues with a guy who was practically my brother, and we were currently living with a ton of vampires. But everyone enjoys a victory, don't they? It was fated that we would win SOME day.

Of course, fate likes to bite us on the butt sometimes.

Angel let out a shriek and fell. I twisted in the air, stared at her for a moment, and didn't think-just acted. My baby couldn't be hurt, no matter what was happening. She fell like a brick, wings stretched outwards, but that didn't matter because I caught her a good ten feet from the ground.

"Fang!" I shrieked. I needed Fang's help again, damn it, "Angel, Angel, Angel baby, you okay? What's wrong?" I hovered at ten foot level, waiting for Fang to come down and help me lift her. Oof. She was still ultra-cute, but she was definitely nine years old, and probably weight sixty pounds.

"Jane," Angel croaked.

"Jane?" I said, glancing at the aforementioned vampire. She smiled smugly.

"Are you using some sort of witch powers on Angel!" I yelled, knowing that Angel commonly used witch powers, "Angel, I thought you could mind-block them!"

"Double-teaming," She croaked, pointing to Alec.

I growled furiously. Alec and Jane were double teaming Angel! "Fang!" I yelled, starting to haul Angel upwards. Fang had just reached me. His wingtips were touching mine.

Then everything went black.

DDDDDDDDD

"Jeb, don't act rashly," Carlisle warned.

Jeb paced back and forth in front of vampires. They watched him silently, "What am I to do, Carlisle? My daughter and her flock have all been trapped by human blood drinking vampires. They could be changed any minute. They could be EATEN any minute."

Carlisle touched his arm, "Jeb, that is not Aro's style. He will give them a day to stew in fear, and then he will change them. Don't worry. He's not going to have them killed. He will not don't see them as very, very valuable."

Jeb ground his teeth, "So, what do we do now?"

"We will devise a plan."

Jeb took a deep breath, and looked to Esme, Alice, Bella, Renesmee, Rosalie, Jacob, Edward, Jasper, Emmett and Total the dog, who was strangely silent. He knew that they were stronger than him. He knew that they knew these vampires far better. But he had to help somehow. He had to help his daughter. He had to make up for all the wrongs he had done. He had to cast aside that fateful day when he'd implanted the aneurysm into Max's brain.

He had to make things right.

"All right," Jeb said, "Show me the blueprints of the volturi hideout and I can help you strategically."

DDDDDDDDD

I woke up with a massive headache, a bad taste in my mouth, and. . .um. . .wings? I stretched yawned, opened my eyes, blinked, tried to open them again, and realized that there was no light.

My fingers scrambled away from my body. I felt around and found dirt, metal bars of some sort of cage, more dirt, and a-

"Ah!" I wrenched my arm back.

"Max? You're awake?" Fang's voice floated through the darkness.

Oh. I thought he'd been a freaking dead body from the way he hadn't been moving, "No duh, sherlock," I said, trying to hide the girly-girl shriek that had been building inside of me.

I could almost see Fang's grin through the darkness, "Glad to hear it," He said, shifting slightly. I tracked his movement with my freaky bird kid hearing and could tell he was about. . .

Six inches away.

WAY too close. I jumped up, "Have you felt the dimensions of this cage thingy?" I asked feeling around, making up a reason to get away from him. I deduced that it was about six feet in each direction. GAH! Claustrophobia kicking in! "Where's the rest of the flock."

Fang paused a moment before answering, "Angel and Gazzy were here until about an hour ago. They took Gazzy away, then Angel."

"Why didn't you stop them!" I cried out in horror. Angel! Gazzy! My two babies!

"By 'they' I mean vampires, Max. I've got some bruises to show that I at least _tried _to stop them."

Oh. I quieted down for a moment, then said, "Do you have any idea what happened?"

"With Jane keeping Angel down, Alec used his freaky stop-everything-and drop power on us. Least, that's Angel's explanation."

I sat down on the ground next to him. There wasn't really any way to avoid that in such a small cage, was there? "Do you know why they took the rest of the flock away?"

"Angel said she hard some vampires thinking. They wanted to separate us, the leaders, from the rest of the flock so that the kids would be left in fear. She said they took them out one at a time to instill fear."

A tremor of fear ran up my spine. Gee, looks like that Volutri's tactic was working, huh?

"So you might be taken at any moment?" I said, guessing.

"Looks like it."

I gulped. I couldn't be alone. I couldn't be alone. Not in this freaky, tiny cage, "And we're alone," I added.

"Yup."

"Just the two of us."

"Yup."

I pressed my back to the side of the cage, as far away from him as possible. Fang didn't miss the movement.

"Max," He said calmly in that fanglike way of his, "We've got some issues. We need to talk."

My heart sputtered in my chest. I deliberately misunderstood, "Yeah. We definitely need to get out of here before our expiration dates-"

"Max."

That was it. Just that one word.

My name.

I'd picked it for myself. Taking it, I'd made a promise to my flock that I would always be the best I could be, always protect them with my maximum strength, but now-! I couldn't maximum fall in love, could I?

Gah! I did not just think that word! No! Of course I loved Fang, he was like a brother!

"Max," Fang said, "You and me. If we don't decide how we're going to go soon, it's going to tear the flock apart," He let those words hang in the air.

Darn it, I hated it when he was right.

"But-" I said. I don't know what I was going to But to, because at that moment, Fang added, "You looooooove me. You loooooooooove me THIS much."

I could just imagine him spreading his arms apart in the darkness to elaborate.

I let out a shriek and tackled him, wincing slightly from the pain of my broken fists. His back hit the ground and I glared down at him, knowing he couldn't see me, "If you _ever_-" I began icily.

Then Fang's next words stopped me, "But I loooooooooove you this much right back."

And then he reached up and kissed me.

And what did I do, the infamous Maximum Ride who never, ever lets any person get the better of her? Who always makes fools of everyone else, not of herself? Who is strong for her flock, always, and never allows herself any form of relaxation because she can't let her flock down?

What did I do?

I kissed him right back, of course.

His breath was hot. I heard the sound of common sense flying out the window. I lost myself in the feel of his arms around me, our wings intertwined. . .

Then I heard the lock on the door click. Fang and I jumped up, taking our defensive stances. Light flooded the room, blinding me.

I blinked rapidly, and could make out the form of a volturi vampire. It was Marcus.

"Come," He said.

**Wow! This is LONG! It's been so long since I updated, I felt I owed it to you :-) For all you Fax lovers, I DID promise there would be Fax. I just tend to have romance as a subplot rather than a major one. I've been kind of lazy lately (and I've had a TON of homework) so I haven't updated. I should also be updated my other story, FLOCK AND FANG, too. I think. If you read it, yay for you! Goodbye! I love you all ttttttthhhhhiiiis much!**


	10. A little C4 never hurts

The flock silently watched as Aro conferred with Marcus and Caius, the volturi guard surveying the proceedings. I know, I said _silently. _If you're wondering how they managed to get us to shut up with our insults, smart retorts, and sarcastic comments, let's just say Cauis flatly threatened to Change anyone who talked into a vampire.

We sat on the floor, leaning onto a cold, stone wall. Angel, my baby, who hadn't been a baby in a long time, sat in my lap, pressing herself against me.

"They're thinking such awful things, Max," She whispered, and I wished (for not the first time) that she didn't have her powers.

Especially since I was pretty sure that she was cross-examining that conversation that Fang and I had in the cell. . .

Fang sat next to me, his face stone. I wondered how he felt about this whole vampire business, if such a straightforward person as him could possibly wrap his mind around vampires, and werewolves, and deep dungeons full of thousand-year-old creatures.

I wondered if becoming a vampire was inevitable for us. I mean, look at us. Our wings, our strength, our speed, our powers. The Volturi must be hungry for such an addition to their ranks. Uh, sorry, but I personally liked my mortality. Who knew how the vampire venom would react to our bird DNA? I'd already heard about the toxin it was to werewolves.

I shivered. The volturi were talking too low and too fast for me to make out their conversation, although, judging from the frown on Iggy's face, he could detect some of the words. He stroked Nudge's hair, and she whimpered into his shirt. Was this comforting relationship more than just friendship? Oh, god, no, I don't need that kind of drama. Fang and I were already screwed up enough as it is. . .

Gazzy was fumbling with something is his hands-the light was too dim for me to see-and he bit his lip as he worked.

_Angel?_

_Yeah, Max?_

_What's Gazzy doing?_

Her reply took a few seconds. _He asked me not to tell you. _

I gnashed my teeth. _Angel, who's the flock leader? Me, or Gazzy?_

Her voice was reluctant. _He's working on a timer on a few bombs. He wants to make a ton, then use them on the volturi._

My bad-idea alarm started ringing like crazy, but then I remembered how helpful they'd been against the vampires we'd fought earlier. It seemed to be the only thing that really worked against them.

I sighed inwardly.

_Angel? Tell Gazzy to keep making bombs._

Fang's right hand moved slightly, so that it touched my left one. I glanced down at it, startled. His face remained passionless, emotionless, but his hand was warm and rough. I slipped my fingers around his.

Fang and I held hands.

With my silent conversation with Angel, Gazzy possibly blowing up the underground cave-though I wasn't certain we were underground anymore-and Fang weirdness, I hadn't been paying attention to what the Volturi had been doing.

"We've come to an agreement," Aro announced like he'd just discovered the secret to immortality. Oh, wait, he had. The three volturi turned to face us, their black cloaks still in the nonexistent breeze. He clasped his shale hands.

"I have not yet been able to read your memories," He continued on. "Because of the little one blocking you," He smiled at Angel. She smiled right back, in her I'm-going-to-patronize-you-and-let-you-pretend-you-can-beat-me-to-mush-when-we-both-know-that-I'm-the-cool-one-and-deserve-to-be-the-supreme-ruler-of-the-world kind of way.

"So, I would like to read the memories of you, Max," He said, looking directly at me.

I gritted my teeth, and Angel clutched my shirt. Fang's fingernails dug tightly into my skin, but I didn't mind, "So you can do what?"

He arched an eyebrow, "Why, determine whether or not it is safe to change you into a vampire."

Fang growled. Angel whimpered. Iggy hissed. Gazzy let out a yelp of indignation. Nudge started into a rant, "What? That's so not fair. You can't change us into vampires. We don't want to be vampires! Just leave us alone and we'll all go along happily with our normal lives umph!" Iggy covered her mouth with his hand.

Me? I said, "What will you do if I don't let you?"

Aro shrugged, "We will have to use Jane and Alec to incapacitate Ariel."

I clenched my fists, "Fine."

"Max, no," Fang said quietly.

I stared at him, "I have to protect my flock, Nick"

He nodded reluctantly, and let my hand go. My hand felt cold at the loss of his touch. Angel crawled out of my lap and I walked across the room to Aro.

He touched my hand.

~DDDD

"Are you sure about this?" Rosalie demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

"It's perfectly safe, I've done this thousands of times," Jeb assured her. "Now, Carlisle, are you sure this is the area?"

Carlisle nodded, "Yes, the holding cells should be right under here."

"Don't worry, Rosalie," Emmett said comfortingly, "There isn't much that can't be solved with a couple blocks of C4."

DDDDD

Aro released my hand, "Ah," He said with a sigh, closing his eyes.

I drew my hand back and tucked it under the sleeve of my jacket; I felt ice-cold from just his touch.

"That's interesting," Aro mused.

He turned to Cauis and Marcus, "They are close enough to human," He said in a somber tone, "It is safe to turn them."

As you might imagine, the flock reacted in a not-so-docile-sheep fashion.

**A/N:**

**Again, I am sorry for taking such a freaking long time to update. Especially during summer vacation, when there's plenty of time to do whatever. My only excuse (and a really bad one, at that) is that I'm working on my own project. You might see it in a couple years in bookstores. . .he heh. Anyway, thank you everyone who reviewed, read, and story alerted this story. I'm almost done. . .but the ride's not over yet.**

**You might have noticed that I seem to be adding a little bit of Niggy. Sorry if you're not a Niggy fan, but it won't influence the story much in any way and will be just a side story. **

**And, as always, please review. I love reviews. I love hearing about my good stuff, but I also love hearing about my bad stuff. Am I making the same grammar mistake over again? An OOC characters? Something you want me to change? Please say so in your review. If there's something you're not comfortable with, I will make sure to amend it in the next chapter. **


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